My Fair Lady (1964)
This sumptuous adaptation of the smash Broadway musical version
of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion won eight
well-deserved Academy Awards - Best Picture; Best Director; Best
Actor (Rex Harrison); Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction/Set
Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Sound and Best Music.
Rex Harrison reprised his signature stage role as the
egotistical and misogynistic phonetics expert, Professor Henry
Higgins who makes a bet that he can transform cockney flower-girl
Eliza (an unforgettable Audrey Hepburn) from a gutter-dwelling
flower girl into a refined lady in time for an important society
ball at the Embassy.
The movie includes such monumental musical numbers as The
Rain in Spain, Wouldn't It Be Luvverly? and With a
Little Bit of Luck.
Eliza Doolittle's singing voice was provided by Marni Nixon
(who also did Natalie Wood's vocals in West Side Story) not
Audrey Hepburn.
Hepburn's casting as Eliza was controversial, as she was picked
over Julie Andrews, who had played the part on Broadway.
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